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From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

From Poverty to Power Green, Oxfam 2008 - weman

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FROM POVERTY TO POWER‘embedded au<strong>to</strong>nomy’ 136 requires a skilled civil service, based onmeri<strong>to</strong>cratic appointments and able <strong>to</strong> experiment and learn from itsmistakes as it seeks <strong>to</strong> build the institutions – economic, social, orpolitical – needed for development.Where would-be developmental states have failed, it is oftenbecause such au<strong>to</strong>nomy could not be maintained. In Latin America,many of the businesses that initially flourished behind tariff barriersfailed <strong>to</strong> invest and increase productivity, but proved adept at lobbyinggovernments for subsidies and continued protection. Latin Americangovernments turned out <strong>to</strong> be ineffectual at picking winners, but thelosers proved masters at picking governments.States need legitimacy in the eyes of most citizens, who accept thestate’s right <strong>to</strong> rule in exchange for their ability <strong>to</strong> seek protection andclaim rights. In this, states often resemble banks, which cocoon themselvesin pompous buildings and rituals <strong>to</strong> create an illusion of solidityand <strong>to</strong> win public confidence, since without that they are remarkablyfragile. In the political equivalent of a run on a bank, the as<strong>to</strong>nishingcollapse of communist states in Eastern Europe in the early 1990sshows what happens when such legitimacy is lost. In order <strong>to</strong> manageconflicts within society peacefully, states also need the active suppor<strong>to</strong>f the most powerful citizens, such as business, ethnic, and religiousleaders, or of regional power brokers.Legitimacy is based on an underlying ‘social contract’ betweenstate and citizen – a deal, whether explicit or not, that buildsconfidence and trust between citizens, businesses, and the state byestablishing the rights and responsibilities of each. The state’s responsibility<strong>to</strong> protect gives it the right <strong>to</strong> conscript or <strong>to</strong> impose martial law.Its responsibility for public welfare gives it the right <strong>to</strong> raise taxes. Itsresponsibility for justice bes<strong>to</strong>ws the right <strong>to</strong> arrest and imprison.Even non-democratic regimes need <strong>to</strong> achieve a degree oflegitimacy <strong>to</strong> survive over time. In Indonesia, the Suhar<strong>to</strong> regime(1967–98) achieved significant legitimacy for many years, despite itsmilitary origins and authoritarian character, by ensuring the basicdelivery of education and health services and paying attention <strong>to</strong> ruraldevelopment.96

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